Despite lack of legislation, arrangements can be made to assist vulnerable defendants, and there is guidance in the Criminal Practice Direction, 2013: vulnerable defendants. The direction outlines a range of measures that should be adopted, where appropriate, ‘to assist a vulnerable defendant to understand and to participate in ...proceedings’.

These include:

• arranging for a defendant to visit the court room before a court hearing or trial so he or she can familiarise themselves with it
• using ‘simple, clear language that the defendant can understand’
• holding the proceedings in a court room in which all participants are on the same, or almost the same level
• allowing the defendant to sit with members of their family and/or other supporting adults, and in a place where they can easily communicate with their legal representatives
• restricting attendance by members of the public and reporters.

Of particular note are parts 3D: Vulnerable People in the Courts, 3E: Ground Rules Hearings to Plan the Questioning of a Vulnerable Witness or Defendant, 3F: Intermediaries, 3G: Vunerable Defendants and Evidence 29A: Measures to Assist a Witness or Defendant to Give Evidence.